Doctor putting words to life

Confessions Of A Junior Doctor

There are a few things that us Brits care greatly about. The great British Bake Off (and the colour of Mary’s jacket). A good cup of tea. The weather. Oh, and the NHS.

(Another) election also means potentially more shake up for the already struggle institution that we all know and love so when it came to watching the first episode of the new TV programme from Channel 4, I feel we all sat up a little straighter.

If the reaction from twitter and my non medic friends is anything to go by, the new documentary following junior doctors in Northampton General Hospital touched a nerve with everyone. For the medics it was a case of “yep, I remember that” and for the non medics it was an unfiltered eye opener.

People relate to people and for all the talk about the much contested junior doctor contract this programme wasn’t about that. It was about the people on the front line doing that thing that they loved and living with the very real consequences of a system under pressure. Like their patients helpless at times in the face of disease, these junior doctors were also visibly helpless to the pressures of the NHS. The 9-5 working day which many doctors know in reality is an ideal more than an often subscribed to reality was demonstrated by the doctors having to stay late at work.The statement of “a large part of it runs on the goodwill of the staff..without that there would be no NHS” rang particularly true.

If there is one thing keeping the NHS together it is the people. As a junior doctor myself I have had some of the hardest days of my life at work. I’ve cried. I’ve run around like a headless chicken. I’ve stayed late. Yet with all of the difficult conditions why do we all stay?

It’s a question I’ve asked to junior doctor friend before. Their confessions weren’t caught on camera but rather in my car, or the canteen, or on the way to the pathology lab because the pod system stopped working. The response comes in many forms but ultimately the answer is something like “because I care”. And that I find universally in the NHS.

For all its flaws and imperfections, it’s filled with some of the best people. People I feel lucky to have worked with. The other day I found a consultants doing a ward round at 7pm on a Friday evening. For those of you who don’t know this is quite unusual. They weren’t being paid for this. They just wanted to make sure their patients were ok. When I went to help I was told it was all in hand and there was “a system” in place (that perhaps I would have ruined!). This is one example of someone going above and beyond their “job”. Everyday I see this. I don’t even have to look hard. I meet a million unsung heroes everyday on the NHS.

If you haven’t already gathered I’m a fan of this programme. For someone who doesn’t own a TV and doesn’t watch any TV programmes regularly, I shall be tuning in again.

The long and short of it the NHS is breaking but people still care. I don’t have a solution but I do know where you can go to educate yourself about the real state of the NHS every Wednesday at 9pm on channel 4. Oh and vote wisely.